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Shayla Lawson: “Pyramids”

April 25, 2018 by PBQ Leave a Comment

The 
Jesus 
I know died 
on a pole.  He was not 
a God—he did not want to 

be.  He told 
the thief  hanging 
beside him “Welcome 
to Paradise,” but all the man
could see were pyramids  / cheetahs 

thrashing
their wild 
tails like an angry 
mob.  I mean, what’s 
the difference between the King 

of All 
Kings 
& the Lord 
of Man, & the god 
of your Last Will & Testament.  

In my 
favorite 
stripper fantasy, 
Cleopatra wears spots 
& scaffolds around you like
a vortex.  I lick her cheetah paws 

& lap 
dance into 
your arms like 
the baddest deity 
of your dreams. You enter 

me first
with a tail 
I have grown 
& I am as much 
an animal as a diamond: solid 

hard 
& pure. 
The way 
you say my name 
in bed. You curse 
every god you’ve ever met.  What’s 

the 
difference 
between a woman 
set loose & a loose 
woman & a woman who crowns 

herself 
Pharaoh 
of a country 
that is not / hers. 
The Jesus I know is not 

the kind 
of insurgent 
Jerusalem expects 
after all that time building 
the pyramids. You are Sampson 

when 
I pull 
your hair. 
I blind your eyes 
& the pillars of your strength

all
crumble 
like a temple. In
this way, I am the god 
you hail from champagne 

flutes 
to bath
-tub baptism. 
I wonder why, 
if we are gods ourselves, we 

revival
—shout the
names of men 
we worship only of 
necessity. I am only a woman when 

I complete 
you. I disrobe 
of all my God-given 
parts. I wake up folded in 
the shape of breasts & young 

men’s jewelry. 
I know why I love 
only you & you & me 
& working out the pyramid
-scheme of my gold- / toned profanity.

Filed Under: Contributors 97

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